When to bring citrus indoors zone 7

9 years ago

Is it too early to bring citrus indoors or can they stay out for another month or so. Im in Zone 7 (Long Island) day temps are high in the 60s and night temps mid 50s and occasionally low 50s. Thank you.

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User

9 years ago

I just got this email from Four Winds:

As the temperatures begin to get cooler and the days get shorter all Citrus grown in cold climates needs to be prepared to be brought in for the winter.

This routine needs to be gradual to ensure that the plant does not get shocked by too quick a climate change.
Watch your watering! When brought indoors citrus should be kept on the dry side.
Choose a place close to the house where it gets radiant heat from the house, porches with good sun exposure, outside walls adjacent to rooms that are typically heated with good sun exposure are some examples of good interim locations to acclimate your plant. Keep it in this location until the night time temperatures get into the mid to high 30's. The longer the plant is outdoors the better.
Feeding your plant before bringing it indoor is ideal. Use an Organic Acid base fertilizer and feed as you begin to adapt your plant to the move indoors. Feed again about 30 days before you move the plant back out.
Don't!! Repot your plant during its time indoors, this almost always results in the loss of the plant.
Watch for insect problems which often occur when the plant is brought indoors. Mites and Scale are the two most common and if caught early, are easy to care for. Small black bugs coming out of the soil are most often Fungus Gnats and a sure sign that you are over watering.
Yellowing leaves and leaf discoloration are common when bringing plants indoors. The goal is to bring the plant indoors as healthy as possible. A plant brought indoors with foliage discoloration will rarely recover until the following spring.

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Comments (10)

Laura LaRosa (7b)
9 years ago
You should be fine for a while yet. Limes are more tender, but others can stay out till nightly temps are in low 40s...at least that's what I do.
mattcolq
9 years ago
Can someone comment about what should be done if the trees will be in a warm place under lights? What's the proper temperature and procedure to bring them inside for this case?
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Laura LaRosa (7b)
9 years ago
Matt, my trees will be indoors in warm rooms with bright windows and some supplemental lights. My plan is this:.as the cold weather nears (a few days out based on the forecast, I plan to move my limes/lemons to shade to get them used to the lower light levels. After that, I will bring them indoors and set them up in my rooms with some lights. I will then follow that procedure with the next batch that needs to come in, leaving the hardiest ones out the longest.
poncirusguy6b452xx
9 years ago
I leave mine out as long as possible. When temperature are expected to drop into the mid 30's or lower I'll bring them in. The longer you wait the less sun in time and strength you will have. This makes it much easier to bring the tree in with out light change shock. This year I was able to bring my trees out for good march 9th while the sun was low and weak. They did well.

6b Steve
myermike_1micha
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
If you plan on growing them under warm conditions, like a heated home, then bring them in before temps average below 55 at night while day times are still warm..Not only do they drop leaves from light shock, but to culture shock to boot...When you bring them in from relatively dry cold air to very dry warm air inside...You could always keep the particular room you plan on growing them in on the cool side, unheated and then that would allow you to leave them out much longer...

Where you are, there is NO way I would have them inside in a heated room for weeks to come..I would leave them outside for a as long as you can...They can take very cold temps, as long as you don't throw them into a heated environment right away.

I like to acclimate my trees to both light and temps.....
poncirusguy6b452xx
9 years ago
I bring my trees in at the heat of the day/evening into an unheated room of similar temperature. The tree doesn't cool off that night.

6b Steve
Laura LaRosa (7b)
9 years ago
That's great advice Vladimir. I was thinking of the temperature acclimation issue and figured out how to make it work. My sunroom can be totally cut off from the rest of the house by sliding doors. I can open the windows in there so they will not have much shock, and gradually close them and heat it up. Grand plans...we will see how the work out in practice...
User
9 years ago
Laura, that sounds like a good plan. I don't understand why they say to keep it gradual but then they say keep the plant outside until temps get into the mid 30's and then bring them in. How is that gradual when you will be bringing them from the 30's into a house with temps of about 70F? I think you have the right idea: acclimate them slowly to both temps and light.
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Every type of citrus has different tolerance for cold. We never brought our Meyer lemon in until the temps were going to fall below 28 degrees F. Some types can go to the teens. You'll need to get the cold tolerance of your plants and bring them in as needed.